A bilateral agreement has been signed with the contractor for the commencement of contract package-1 (land development of depot area) of Uttara route of Bangladesh's first underground metro line MRT line-5. The work is expected to begin from July.
The agreement was signed between Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL), TOA Corporation (Japan) and Spectra Engineers Limited (Bangladesh) at DMTCL Bhaban in the capital's Uttara on Tuesday.
A total of 10 contract packages have been set to complete MRT Line-5 from Hemayetpur to Bhatara by 2028. As a part of that, contract package-1 (land development work agreement of depot area) was signed on Tuesday.
According to the agreement TOA Corporation (Japan) and Spectra Engineers Limited (Bangladesh) will work on this package. Besides, the tender processing activities of other packages are under implementation at various stages.
In this project, 13.50km underground and 6.50km overhead metro rail line will be built from Hemayetpur to Bhatara. In between, there will be a total of 14 stations (nine underground and five aerial) for passenger boarding and alighting.
The route alignment of MRT Line-5 is Hemayetpur-Boliarpur-Bilamalia-Amin Bazar and Gabtoli. From there, it will go to Banani through Darus Salam-Mirpur 1-Mirpur 10-Mirpur 14 and Kachukhet.
Then the line will go to Bhatara via Gulshan 2 and Natun Bazar. In this section, from Hemayetpur to Amin Bazar and Bhatara, the metro rail will be aerial. There will be underground metro rail from Gabtoli to Natun Bazar section.
The cost of the MRT Line-5 project under the Road Transport and Highways Division has been estimated at Tk41,238.55 crore. Out of this, Tk12,121.50 crore will be received from GOB and Tk29,117.5 crore from project assistance.
The project will be financed by the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
